WHY THE EVERGREEN TREES KEEP THEIR LEAVES IN WINTER
: For Kindergarten And Class I.: Children Stories To Tell
One day, a long, long time ago, it was very cold; winter was coming. And
all the birds flew away to the warm south, to wait for the spring. But one
little bird had a broken wing and could not fly. He did not know what to
do. He looked all round, to see if there was any place where he could keep
warm. And he saw the trees of the great forest.
"Perhaps the trees will keep me warm through the winter," he said.
So he went to the edge of the forest, hopping and fluttering with his
broken wing. The first tree he came to was a slim silver birch.
"Beautiful birch-tree," he said, "will you let me live in your warm
branches until the springtime comes?"
"Dear me!" said the birch-tree, "what a thing to ask! I have to take care
of my own leaves through the winter; that is enough for me. Go away."
The little bird hopped and fluttered with his broken wing until he came to
the next tree. It was a great, big oak-tree.
"O big oak-tree," said the little bird, "will you let me live in your warm
branches until the springtime comes?"
"Dear me," said the oak-tree, "what a thing to ask! If you stay in my
branches all winter you will be eating my acorns. Go away."
So the little bird hopped and fluttered with his broken wing till he came
to the willow-tree by the edge of the brook.
"O beautiful willow-tree," said the little bird, "will you let me live in
your warm branches until the springtime comes?"
"No, indeed," said the willow-tree; "I never speak to strangers. Go away."
The poor little bird did not know where to go; but he hopped and
fluttered along with his broken wing. Presently the spruce-tree saw him,
and said, "Where are you going, little bird?"
"I do not know," said the bird; "the trees will not let me live with them,
and my wing is broken so that I cannot fly."
"You may live on one of my branches," said the spruce; "here is the
warmest one of all."
"But may I stay all winter?"
"Yes," said the spruce; "I shall like to have you."
The pine-tree stood beside the spruce, and when he saw the little bird
hopping and fluttering with his broken wing, he said, "My branches are not
very warm, but I can keep the wind off because I am big and strong."
So the little bird fluttered up into the warm branch of the spruce, and
the pine-tree kept the wind off his house; then the juniper-tree saw what
was going on, and said that she would give the little bird his dinner all
the winter, from her branches. Juniper berries are very good for little
birds.
The little bird was very comfortable in his warm nest sheltered from the
wind, with juniper berries to eat.
The trees at the edge of the forest remarked upon it to each other:
"I wouldn't take care of a strange bird," said the birch.
"I wouldn't risk my acorns," said the oak.
"I would not speak to strangers," said the willow. And the three trees
stood up very tall and proud.
That night the North Wind came to the woods to play. He puffed at the
leaves with his icy breath, and every leaf he touched fell to the ground.
He wanted to touch every leaf in the forest, for he loved to see the trees
bare.
"May I touch every leaf?" he said to his father, the Frost King.
"No," said the Frost King, "the trees which were kind to the bird with the
broken wing may keep their leaves."
So North Wind had to leave them alone, and the spruce, the pine, and the
juniper-tree kept their leaves through all the winter. And they have done
so ever since.
More
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